Busted Knuckles
- TRUCKIN.COM [2 0 ] NOVEMBER 2019 -
T
he truck culture is generally geared toward bearded
men who bear a resemblance to rugged lumberjacks
with the knowledge of used car salesmen. When you
hear about a truck owned by a woman, some may
wonder about the extent of her involvement in the build but still
admire the progress. When you find out the truck is a classic ’48
Chevy pickup, you start asking even more questions. One of the
first questions you ask is: How did a young lady like Tya Antrim
come to possess such a classic Chevy?
Her father purchased the Chevy before Tya was born, but after her
birth it was left to rot away in the yard. Of course, the memories were
preserved thanks to pictures of her sitting inside the truck with her
brother. As the years went by, Tya constantly asked about the dilapi-
dated truck sitting in the family yard. Tya tells Truckin, “My father just
wouldn’t budge.” He wanted to keep the truck for the day he decided
to finish the build himself, but he finally agreed to pass it down.
The truck was in absolute awful condition and pretty much
ready for the junkyard. The exterior “patina” had naturally set in and
rodents and weeds had been eating and growing inside the cab. The
engine hadn’t been started in more than seven years and Tya knew
this would be quite the challenge. With her fiancé, AJ, Tya began by
removing the bed floor that was beyond repair and tossed it. The
bed, cab steps, grille, front bumper, and front fenders were removed
from the frame. The original frame was completely discarded and
replaced with a Chevy S-10 frame that had to be stretched to fit.
The triangulated four-link was installed along with the air man-
agement system to raise and lower the new frame. The interior
was next on the list, with Tya and AJ ripping out the old seats and
gutting the cabin. The firewall was cut off and sheetmetal was bent
with a brake press to match the bend toward the bottom of the cab.
The dashboard was painted Plum Crazy purple, Tya’s favorite col-
or. Tya purchased a 5.3L LS motor for its power and reliability and
backed it with a 4l80e transmission.
She wanted to maintain the stock patina look the truck had
throughout her childhood to add some nostalgia to the build, but
everything around the patina was brought to life, including the
grille, headlights, taillights, emblems, badges, wheels, and tires. Tya
herself sanded and stained the new wood for the bed floor and in-
stalled it with stainless bedstrips. Not loving the rear bumper, she
added a roll pan for a cleaner look. Since the completion, Tya and
her fiancé, AJ, have dedicated their time to building trucks and
started Lowdown Fabworks in Rogers, Arkansas.
Tya wishes to express a great deal of gratitude to her father,
Dennis, for finally allowing her childhood truck to become her
“toy.” She has sacrificed her time and the money needed to have a
fairytale wedding to build her custom Chevy. Having a fiancé who
understands and shares the same passion and addiction to trucks
always helps. She wants to thank Richard Bruner and her Definite
Obsession extended family for standing by her while she played
with her toys.TEXT AND PHOTOS BY PHIL GORDON